CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER
/
2006
DIRECTOR: YIMOU ZHANG
CINEMATOGRAPHER: XIAODING ZHAO
WRITER: ZHIHONG BIAN (written by)/YU CAO (play)/ NAN WU & YIMOU ZHANG
BUDGET: $45,000,000
GROSS: $78,568,977 (worldwide)
Curse Of The Golden Flower was a 2006 film spectacle from acclaimed Chinese director Yimou Zhang, and I mean spectacle in the best sense of the word. Anyone familiar with his other films, Hero and House Of Flying Daggers, will know exactly how good his spectacles are.
I liked Hero and the Rashomon-esque story, and I really liked House Of Flying Daggers, which was one of the most visually stunning films I have seen. And while those two films feature much more fighting and martial artistry then does Curse Of The Golden Flower, that definitely isn't a problem for the film.
Also, that doesn't mean there’s no fighting or flying ninjas and gorgeous sword fights. In fact, the last 20 or so minutes is an incredible battle sequence that is both very gory and absolutely gorgeous at the same time. The cinematography and choreography is a feast for the eyes. As is the art direction which happens to be the only thing the film was nominated for at the Academy Awards that year.
So, what is the film about you ask? Well, the story takes place during the time of the Tang dynasty, 10th century in China and stars Chow Yun-Fat as the emperor Ping and Gong Li as his empress Phoenix. They have two sons together and the emperor also has another son from a previous relationship. The movie begins with the return of the emperor and his son from war on the pretext of celebrating the Chong Yang festival with the entire family. It all seems innocent enough, but within the palace walls secrets abound.
For me the film was Shakespeare. There are princes, emperors, empresses, scandal, family secrets, double-crosses, incest, love, plotting, loss and death. It’s Macbeth and Hamlet set in 10th century China. Grand sets, grand themes, grand emotions and grand acting are what the film gives us. And it works. The Academy nominated art direction is stunning and it will be a long time before you forget the gorgeous rainbow-colored interior of the palace or the carpet of bright yellow chrysanthemums covering the ground of the great courtyard of the forbidden city (over 1 million chrysanthemums were used).
Curse Of The Golden Flower was the most expensive Chinese film ever made at the time (I think it sits at number 5 now) and you can see every last penny of that $45 million dollars right up there on the screen. Given the grand spectacle, the gorgeous colors and the large scale final battle scene, Curse Of The Golden Flower is a movie that also really deserves to be seen on as big a screen as possible.